New Player's Guide
Hello, and thank you for being interested in joining the CreateThisWorld project! This will be the go-to manual, guide, and tutorial for all new players. The Rules of Conduct Okay, while I would love to tell you about the Shards (i.e. worlds) right now and how all this works, there is some mandatory logistics we need to do first. That is of course the rules of how all of you must behave. # Be Civil: Do not be a jerk to others; there is a human being on the other side of your screen. Also, please follow reddit's reddiquette when on the sub. # Role Play Responsibly: RP'ing is NOT an excuse for harassment. # Be Collaborative: We want this to be fun, so please try not to intentionally destroy the work of others. You can interact by causing conflict, but do so in a way that makes sense within the project: do not cause conflict out of personal spite. # Be Active: 'While there is no set deadline, we ask that you continually contribute to the project or we may be forced to remove your claim in it. (Although not the history you have contributed. :)) This may also happen naturally due to some specific Shard rule-sets. # '''No Plagiarism: '''Give credit where credit is due. If you use another user's works directly, or an online artist's artwork, give a reference to them. # '''Have Fun: '''We want this to be fun. If there is something you don't like you can complain ''politely. Do not be a troll, especially out of personal spite for an in-game event(s). # '''We Have Power: 'We, the mods of the sub and wiki, hold the right to moderate the judgement for any infraction of the rules. We also hold the right to moderate the events and actions partaking on the subreddit, and can therefore decline any action from being canonized. Note, that we have these rights for the sake of the enjoyment of the many. We will not use these for abuse. The Stained Glass Shards: What Are the Worlds? We have a slightly special universal mythology for CreateThisWorld. It resides around three main ideas (among many other minor ones): The Spark, The Sound, and The Shards. To learn more about all of these please refer to the Stained Glass Shards page which explains them and analyzes all of them in depth. The universal mythology has been continually developed with each passing Shard. The gist of it is that there is a Void that exists between all Shards. It is home to horrifying monsters that must be kept sealed away to stop them from destroying everything. However, some mortal beings may, under very rare circumstances, be able to cross into the Void and gain its power. This makes them like demigods, at which point they may use their powers for good or destruction. These Void-Walkers, as they are called, have the capacity to move between Shards. This has resulted in the creation of a few recurring characters over the course of the greater mythology. The world's are still kept largely self-contained, and those recurring characters are treated primarily as cameos or Easter eggs. However, in any given Shard, any player is welcome to devise their own storyline by which one of their characters may become a Void-Walker. Initial Claiming When you first come to the subreddit, you will probably want to make a claim of land. This will allow you to participate in the subreddit on an international scale as a discrete entity. Think of it like being a nation in a powers game, but with the intent of fun collaborative world-building rather than fun competition. Please keep the claim under the specific Shard's intial claim limit so as to leave room for other players. Keep in mind that this is dynamic: often nation's borders will change along with their very existence at times coming to question. So it is not paramount that it is exactly under the specified limit, but please have a good reason for going over as the limits are usually ''very generous. There may also be additional restrictions on claim territory. Some sections of the map may be excluded, or players may be required to claim within a specified distance of another player. There may also be resources and geographical features that play into where it would be advantageous to set down. When claiming, you may use this as a template for submission (items with asterisks are required): * Name of Nation/Claim: * Location on Map: (Picture Please) (Also, if the above needs to be * Origins: e.g. Story, Myth, History Narrative, Government: e.g. Structure, Hierarchy, Power dispersion, etc. Culture: e.g. Economy, Social relations, Industry, Foreign relations, Technology, Religion, View of the world, Military, Language, Writing, etc. If you need further inspiration, you can always reference the Culture Iceberg which you can easily find on /r/worldbuilding. Races: e.g. Claims must be approved by a mod before being canonized. A claim will be rejected solely on the grounds of "Lack of Required Information" or "Lack of Auxiliary Information" if the claim seems too bare and/or vague. It can also be rejected on the grounds of "Claim Too Large"'' in which case we will ask you to reduce it. See past claims if you are worried, we are generally fair but will ask that you flesh out your culture more if it is bare and/or vague. Also, your post '''MUST '''be flared as a "claim", or else the mod who does the approval and map additions won't notice it. Once your claim is approved, it is canon and you may start posting about it further. You may also create a page for it here on wikia. (Something we strongly encourage) Non-States As the subreddit has evolved, we have looked at new ways for players to exercise their creativity in world building. One of those ways is to include claims that are not a traditional nation-state/kingdom/empire. These non-states can be your sole focus, or they can be a secondary claim in addition to a regular state. There are several possibilities to choose from. Environmental Claim Your claim can be simply an interesting piece of land: A dark forest with strange goings-on; a remote and storm-ravaged island; a nesting ground for bizarre creatures. The goal of an environmental claim is less about building a lore by yourself and more about offering up new features of the world that other players can use for their own stories. Secret Society Everyone loves a secret society. It could be occult, religious, scientific, criminal. It could be reclusive and remote, or it could work its way into positions of power in every other country. These societies will have their own lore to develop — history, hierarchy, code of beliefs — but also allow plenty of opportunities to build the lore of other players in relation to you. Remember that you need to keep a dialogue with other players if your actions affect them, though. You can't just decide that another player's king is a member of your society without consulting them first. Vassal State / Conquered State This option will require cooperation with another player from the beginning. You can play as a state that is subordinate to another player. You can still develop lore, but you won't be able to make large-scale decisions. You can either begin the game as part of another player's territory, or you can begin independently with plans in place to be swiftly taken over. Cultural Group This is the most generic option. You can make a claim as a people that share cultural identity but are not organized into a unified political identity. You may be gathered on a particular piece of territory, or you may be scattered across various other nations. You have limited autonomy on the world state, but it offers plenty of role-playing opportunities. Nomads You can have a group of people who fulfill all the regular criteria for a claim, but have no fixed territory and thus do not need to be marked on a map. In some cases you may provide a general ranging territory that suggests the lands over which they might travel. Individual This is the trickiest non-state to pull off. It is a world-building subreddit, so we need to be careful not to let individual character personalities too strongly overtake the larger cultural personalities that we are building. But we have had players RP as individuals before, in certain circumstances. We had a traveller who journeyed across the world, documenting various nations from an outside perspective. We also had a giant robot living in the middle of the desert who really wanted a friend. Posting Do not spam small junk posts. We will be mildly monitoring the quality of writing. (i.e. We check that it is readable, if there is a major problem we will ask you to correct it.) Flair your posts According to Conduct Rule #4, we expect you to be active. We have yet to define any explicit requirements for this, but try to post often and regularly. What we really hope for though is active collaboration. That means you should comment often! Also, we ''strongly encourage that you archive and organize your nation and the posts you've written here on Wikia. Please do '''NOT copy paste your posts. Use this as a chance to organize your ideas into one coherent space. Use the sub sort of as a news-feed or advertisement and discussion board for the Shard(s) As of now, all relevant non-meta posts about a Shard are immediately canon. Please do not abuse this, we still hold the right to de-canonize posts if they are blatant and intentional in being contradictory or destructive. If contradictions accidentally arise, this is often a good chance for others to reason through them in a creative way. Post Content Players are given a lot of freedom to style their posts the way they wish. Some choose a more scientific and historical approach, while others go for the more dramatic. As of right now, there are no official rules restricting the kind of content players can include in their post. We can, and have, supported heavy, mature themes. However, the subreddit hosts a wide variety of ages and personalities, so we ask that any post containing particularly graphic violent or sexual themes should be marked NSFW. How to Play Posting on Create This World operates on two distinct levels. There is the macro level, which deals with the movements of entire nations. These will be posts about culture, history, politics, wars, revolutions, etc. And there is the micro-level, which follows individuals on their own journey through this complex and colourful world. Some players prefer the macro level. Others prefer the micro level. When Create This World started, it was exclusively for macro-level playing. Over time, however, it became home to a lot more micro-level stories. Both are essential to the character of the subreddit as it is now, and each player can decide for themselves how they would best like to interact with the world. Weekly Events This section is about the weekly events we often do, such as Feature Fridays, or Menagerie Mondays. Here is the gist of the weekly schedule: (Note how some of these day's have a "focus"; all we ask for is that you primarily post these sorts of things on those days. Although, we will not strictly enforce it as that would be silly, arbitrary, and difficult.) Schedule Sunday: The Clock advances and a new limit on future lore is set. (<- Applies to Shard #3 only) People volunteer for Feature Friday. We announce any special events for the week. We also sponsor cool prompts people will be doing during the week. Finally, throughout the week this is the perfect place to ask small Meta questions. Market Monday: 'An interactive prompt taking place at a major market city or port in a particular nation. All players are encouraged to introduce characters and RP stories back and forth. Also a time to present key information about commerce and economics in your country. The Market Monday may also be taken over by a Meeting of Nations, a larger-scale interactive prompt bringing delegates from all countries together. '''Weird Science Wednesday: '''This is a chance for one nation to present a new and exciting technology. It isn't just a chance to showcase some already existing technology, but rather to present something that could change the game going forward. Proposals for Weird Science Wednesday are subject to mod approval. 'Feature Friday: Today is the time to shine! One nation, chosen from the Sunday volunteers, gets to have a huge post of theirs stickied to the sub until next Friday! Take this as an opportunity to learn about this featured nation. Feature Fridays can be about any number of different things, but generally it is more detailed and specific than what you would find in a typical lore post. Outdated Weekly Events Events we have had in the past but are not currently using. Menagerie Monday: Occasional Meeting of Nations. (1/month?) Today's focus is interacting with others: war, peace, role-play, etc. Tale Tuesday: Focus on narrative stories about characters, rather than nations Tech Tuesday: '''Spotlight on a particular nation's techology '''Wealth Wednesday: '''Spotlight on a particular nation's commerce, discussing imports/exports, trade relationships, currency, other economic regulations. Often involves and interactive prompt at the market in question. '''What-if Wednesday: Today's focus is on interactive prompts. (Also, there might be a trade/market/Bazaar prompt) Titanic Thursday: Today will occasionally have special events. (Particularly cataclysmic) If not, then today is a free day. (If you can though, world-build with a bit of pizzazz ;) ) Sophisticated Saturday: 'Spotlight on a nation's arts or cultural events. ''Eureka!: Advancement This section is about how cultures and nations may advance on their Shard so as to satisfy the thematic time-period. Technology Each Shard will have a technological theme. Generally, that means there will be rules on the kind of technology all players can have at the time they make their claims, and there will be a limit as to how far technology is allowed to advance. (eg. A medieval world may place a hard limit on the printing press.) But players are free to develop new technology throughout the course of the game, and we often have special posts dedicated to just that. Current tech - Napoleonic The current technology theme is based approximately around the year 1800. It is an age of colonialism and early industry. Steam power is becoming common but has not been overly well developed. Cannons and black powder rifles dominate warfare, but will soon give way to more advanced weaponry. Technology continues to develop through the shard, and will probably reach the equivalent of about 1870 by the time we end. Magic You can have anything that fits the thematic power-level and commonness of the setting. If it makes for a good story, it's probably fine. (If anything is out of line, we the mods will tell you. If you have concerns, message us and we can help.) Current magic - Medium Magic is set to a comfortable medium this time around. This means that you can have your regular fireball-hurtling mages if you desire. But magic users have limitations. They cannot be all-powerful or invincible. Magic users are also not that common (1% of the population is too high). Magic users require a mana-like substance to recharge their energy. Claim Expansion This section will be about how you may expand your claim. '' ''Requirements for Official Expansion: * Location ** ''Important Rule: If the claim's region on the map is updated or changed due to moderation or other causes it ''needs to be updated in the claim post, not the comments. The comments will not be traced through for the most recent change. * Lore (Note, you don't have to mark these next ones explicitly, we just expect there to be a REASON and a STORY behind your expansion. We expect both to be "good", that is noticeably thought about. (you don't need to post a novel, but the claim size should probably relate to the claim's lore amount). * RP/Meta Reason ** e.g. "I place Arbiter Sang's head on a spike as I survey the land...."/War with a player Sang.... ** e.g. "Our people yearn for new lands...."/It's getting crowded.... ** or almost anything. We are fairly generous. * RP/Meta How/Story ** e.g. "My legions of men and servants march over the iron fields of the northerners' stone....."/We won the war!.... ** or almost anything. We are fairly generous. * Approval from a Mod Requirements for Ethnic Expansion: * Location ** ''Important Rule: '''If the claim's region on the map is updated or changed due to moderation or other causes it ''needs to be updated in the claim post, not the comments. The comments will not be traced through for the most recent change. * Lore * Approval from a Mod ** We are even more generous on this one. Although, if the boundaries cross an existing nation, we "require" that you collaborate with them. (Again, we're generous about "require".) Veni Vidi Vici: War and Conflict Our subreddit has never developed a strict codified ruleset governing the practice of war. There is a reason for that — it was never intended to be a war sub. We operate in the spirit of collaborative world-building, and that extends to war. Collaboration over competition. War should be used as a mechanism for telling a story, rather than simply to win over another player. General Guidelines Under no circumstances are you to launch a "surprise attack" on another player, or begin conflict with them without their consent. Intention to do war needs to be discussed and agreed upon before any action is made. Characters and nations may be surprised, but players should not be. A war post that does not have prior consent of all parties will be considered void. Don't clutter the board with stats. By all means, describe your army, but you don't need to itemize everything, assigning attack and defense ratings as you go. Limitations on the size and capacity of armies is flexible, but you need to be prepared to justify your choices if asked. For instance, if you say that 80% of your population is mobilized for combat, that is going to raise some serious questions about who is supplying food and fashioning weapons. Military is not a requirement. You can be a pacifistic nation if you wish, and that will be respected. Role-playing involves improv. Keep an open mind and try to roll with the situation. There are limits, though, and we expect there is some level of communication between the parties in a conflict; ie. no surprise invasions. And that goes both ways. If your opponent is playing along with your invasion, you need to be able to play along with the retaliation. Major figures — generals, queens, prime ministers — cannot be killed without prior discussion. No one can be destroyed or conquered without their consent. The moderators will step in if there is clear evidence of power-gaming. Methods It's important not to let one war between two players overtake the entire board. For shorter conflicts, try to isolate it to one megathread. For more protracted conflicts, several megathreads that identify different stages of the war. In-board posting is better for longer posts taking a measured response and describing whole movements. Another option is to use an IM program like Discord, schedule a time for both players, and play out the battle there, later copy/pasting the text into a Reddit post. This works if you want to have a fast-paced conflict.